AN ANALYSIS OF THE DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE

PASHTOONS
History
Dr. Hanif Khalil1
Javed Iqbal2
ABSTRACT

The Pashtoons is an ancient race, nation or tribe on this earth having its own identity,
specific values, norms and traditions and a peculiar charm since thousands of years. To
trace the origin of the Pashtoons various theories have been presented by renowned
scholars in different periods. In these theories, the theory of Israelies and the theory of
Arian Tribes became very hot and famous for academic discussions among the historians
and researchers.
In this paper along with other miscellaneous theories, these two famous theories have
been discussed with references and evidences. At the end the conclusion has been given
and the most acceptable theory has been pointed out.

INTRODUCTION

The topic is under discussion since very long that who are the Pashtoons and what is the
origin of the Pashtoons? To trace to origin of the pashtoons various theories have been presented
by some eminent scholars, researchers, historian and linguist. But this question has not been
answered yet scientifically with proved evidences. However some theories came under
discussion in this respect. In these the most popular theories are as under
1.
2.
3.
4.
1

The Pashtoons are from semitic races and belong to the Israelies.
The Pashtoons are the descendents of Qatora, the wife of Hazrat Ibrahim (P.B.U.H).
The Pashtoons are basically from Greek races.
The Pashtoons are from Arian tribes.

Assistant Professor NIPS Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad

2

Lecturer, Pashto Department University of Balochistan Quetta

Some other theories have also been presented and analyzed but the following two theories
became most popular and always remain under discussions of researchers in different times.
1. the theories of Bani-Israels
2. the theories of Arians
In this discussion we will try to analyze these two major theories and to trace the most acceptable
theory about the origin of the Pashtoons.

The Theory of Bani Israelies

The first famous and old theory about the genealogy of the Pashtoons is that they are Bani Israel.
We find this theory for the first time in Makhzan-e-Afghani written by Niamat Ullah Harvi, a
scholar at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. He has completed his research about 1612
A.D. Most of the other historians and writers in their books and writings followed this theory,
which was presented by Niamat Ullah Harvi. In these historians and writers the most popular
Pashtoon writer Afzal Khan Khattak, the grandson of Khushal Khan Khattak in his Pashto book
Taareekh-e-Murrassa, and Hafiz Rahmat Khan in his history book, containing the genealogies of
the Pashtoons, Khulaasat-ul-Ansaab, followed and accepted this theory without any analysis and
criticism and made this theory as the base and fundamental evidence of their writings. Famous
orientalist and historian Olaf Caroe repeats the story in his book the Pathans. In the words of
Olaf Caroe.

"The Afghan historiographers maintain that Saul had a son named Irmia
(Jeremiah) who again had a son named Afghana, neither of course known to the
Hebrew Scriptures. Irmia, dying about the time of Sauls death, his son Afghana was
brought up by David, and in due course in Solomon's reign, was promoted to the
chief command of the army. There follows a gap of some four centuries to the time of
the captivity. Since Bakhtunnasar is mentioned, one must presume that the reference
is to the second captivity early in the sixth century B.C, that of Judah from Jerusalem,
and not the first captivity over one hundred years earlier, that of Israel by
Shalmaneser the Assyrian, from Samaria, If this is so, it rules out any suggestion,
often made, that the Bani Israel, the sons of Afghana, are in any way connected with
the lost ten tribes. Nevertheless the theory of the ten tribes has had its notable
supporters. In its aid it was suggested, originally by Sir, William Jones, pioneer of
oriental studies in Warren Hastings, time that the Afghans are the lost ten tribes of
Israel mentioned by the prophet Esdras as having escaped from captivity and taken

refuge in the country of Arsarath, supposed by that elegant scholar as identical with
the modern Hazarajat, the Ghor of the Afghan historians. But the reference in the
afghan chronicles to Nebuchadnezzar makes nonsense of any identification with the
ten tribes. The truth is that Muslims commentators of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries were not well up in the history of the Hebrews. They make no distinction
between Israel and Judah, and do not seem even to be aware that there were two
captivities." ( Caroe:1958:5)

Olaf Caroe also quotes Raverty who was an excellent scholar of Pashto literature as well as the
history of the Pashtoons. Caroe admitted him as the last pleader of this theory in English writers.
He narrates about the concept of Roverty as:-

"The last pleader for the Bani Israel tradition in English is the redoubtable
Raverty. Referring to Cyrus, the first of the Persian Achaemenids, he notes that it was
customary for the great King to transport a whole tribe, and sometimes even a whole
nation, from one country to another. The Jews were even a stiff-necked race, and he
asks form credence to the possibility that the most troublesome anong them had been
moved to the thinly peopled satrapies of the Persian Empire where they would be too
far away to give trouble. It is not possible he asks, that those Jew who could make
their escape might have fled eastward, preferring a wandering life in a mountainous
country with independence to the grinding tyranny of Cyrus successors and their
satraps? In facts there was no other direction in which they could have fled"(
Caroe:1958:6-7)

Our scholars linked the historical background of this theory, related to Hazrat Suleman, Saul,
Talut, Armia and Barkhia and Afghana, to Hazrat Khalid Bin Walid and Qais Abdur-Rasheed,
who is considered as the old grandfather of Pashtoon tribes, Saraban, Ghorghashts, and Beetan.
Sir Olaf Caroe writes about this historical background in the following words.

"The Afghan chroniclers would have it that Khalid Bin Walid, the most
famous of the Prophet's Ansar (companions) and the first great Arab conqueror,
belonged to the tribe of the descendants of Afghana resident near Mecca. (All other
Muslims tradition states him to have been an Arab of the Makhsum family of the
prophet's tribe of Quraish.) On conversion to Islam, while the Prophet was still alive
and before Khalids conquest of Syria and Iraq, Khalid either proceeded in person, or

sent a letter, to his kinsmen of the Bani Israel settled in Ghor, to bring them tidings of
the new faith and an invitation to join the Prophet's standard there resulted a
deputation of a number of representatives of the Afghan of Gohar, led by one Qais,
which proceeded to meet the prophet at Medina. This Qais is said to be descended
from Saul in the thirty-seventh generation, an under-generous allowance for a period
of some seventeen hundred years. This Qais and his comrades then waged war most
gallantly on the Prophet's behalf. TLe chronicle proceeds:
The Prophet lavished all sorts of blessing upon them; and having ascertained
the name of each individual, and remarked that Qais was a Hebrew name, whereas
they themselves were Arbas, he gave Qais the name of Abdur Rashid and observed
further to the rest that, they being the posterity of Malik Talut, it was quite proper and
just that they should be called Malik likewise and the prophet predicted that God
would make the issue of Qais so numerous that they would out vie all other people,
that their attachment to the faith would in strength be like the wood upon which they
lay the keel when constructing a ship which seamen call Pathan; on this account he
conferred upon Abdur Rashid the title of Pathan also." ( Caroe:1958:7-8)

Renowned historian and researcher Sayyed Bahadur Shah Zaffar Kakakhel also narrated this
background in his Pashto book Pukhtana da Tareekh pa Rana kay (The Pashtoons in the
perspective of history). He explained the story of Qais Abdur Rasheed and also criticized the
theories of Bani-Israel at the end. Bahadur Shah Zaffar explains that

"All the Pashtoons got entered into Islam. The Holy prophet Hazrat Muhammad
(P.B.U.H.) prayed for them and changed the name of their leader Qais into Abdur
Rasheed. Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) gave him the title of Bathan. It means the
leader of the boat of his nation. Hazrat Khalid bin Walid married his daughter Sara Bibi
with Abdur-Rasheed than Qais came back to his own area and in his area he started to
preach Islam. He died in 41 Hijri at the age of 77 during a war. He had three sons, the
eldest Saraban, the second Beetan, and the third Ghurghasht. These three being the
ancestors of the various branches of the Pashtoons" (Kakakhail: 1981:32-33)

Criticism on this theory

As mentioned earlier that along with Bahadur Shah Zafar Kakakhel some other historians and
writers presented this theory that Pashtoons are from Semitic races and they are Israelies. But a

number of scholars rejected this theory with new evidences and authentic sources. First of all we
must quote Sayyed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kakakhel who are of the opinion that
"There is no solid proof to accept this theory, even in Arabian history or in
Islamic history"(Kakakhail: 1981: 35).
An another scholar Dr. Abdur-Raheem author of the Afghans in India, wrote about this theory

"The theory of the Semitic origin of the Afghan does not stand the serious analysis. The
resemblances in features cannot be considered as providing scientific criterian for grouping
different peoples into one race. The Sumerian resemble the Aryans in features through they
are not considered to have any affiliation with Aryan people. The portraits of the koshan
kings found their coin has the same type of feature but they are certainly neither Afghans nor
Semitic" (Abdur-Raheem: 1969: 43)

Similarly the author of "History of Afghanistan" Sir Percy Cycks also criticized the theory of
Bani Israel in the following words.

"A protest must here be made against the erroneus view that the Afghans are
members of lost tribes of Israel, which various writers including Bellew and Holdich
advocated. Actually this theory is of purely literary origin and is merely an example
of the wide spread customs among Muslims of claiming descent from some
personage mentioned in the Quran or some other sacred work. In the case of the
Afghan they claim Malik Talat or king Savl their ancestor. Among the reasons
advanced in support of this claim are noticably curved noses of the Afghan but this
peculiarity is equally striking in the portraits of the koshan monarch of the first
century A.D who had no Hebrew blood in their veins." (Percy: 1973:78)

Renowned orientalist James.W. Spain quoted some other European scholars who had been
discussed in their writings that Pashtoons are basically belonged to Semitic races. He narrates
that

"The idea that the Pathans were descended from the nation of Israel was
encouraged by their tight tribal structure, their stark code of behaviour, their
strikingly Semitic features, their bearded patriarchal appearances, and their

predilection for biblical names (acquired from the Holy Quran): Adam, Ibrahim,
Musa, Daud, Suleiman, Yaqub, Yousaf, Esa, and the rest. It was a favourite subject
of speculation by British soldiers, administrators, and missionaries, and persisted in
memoirs and travel books well into the twentieth century.
The only trouble is that it was not true. I feel something of a coward saying
this here in a book written half a world away from the Frontier, when I know that I
would never have the courage to say it to a Pathan. Nevertheless, we must face the
facts, although, happily, the facts about the Pathans are anything but prosaic. The
myth of the Semitic origins of the Pathans was debunked more than a hundred years
ago by Bernhard Dorn, Professor of Oriental Literature at the Russian University of
Kharkov, in a book with the interesting title, A Chrestomathy of the Pashto or Afghan
language, which was published by the Imperial Academy in Saint Petersburg in 1847.
The most recent and comprehensive treatment of the subject appears in the Pathans
by Sir Olaf Caroe, a former British governor of the North West Frontier Province "
(Spain:1972:28-29)

James .W. Spain further says that in the connection of the Pashtoons to Semitic races, the tale of
the Qais is not authentic. This story is based on mythical traditions. He wrote

"This is not to say that the genealogies should be ignored or taken lightly.
They were first set down by Persian speaking chroniclers at the court of the Moghul
emperors in the early part of the seventeenth century. The sophisticated Moghul
historians, possibly impressed by the same outward signs of Semitic connections that
misled the British two hundred years later, apparently made up the decent of the
border tribes from the mythical Qais and improvised a connection for Qais with Saul
of Israel" (Spain:1972: 29)

In the same way English writer G.P Tate also argues that this so-called genealogy of the Pathans
was compiled under the religious influence on the Pathans, which has no historical evidence. He
writes in his book, the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the following words:-

"The origin of the tribes who call themselves Afghans has attracted a great
deal of attention, owing to the fact that they claim to be the descendants of Jews, who
had settled in Ghor; and the various clans refer their origin to some one of the three
sons of Qais, the chieftain of that community, who is said to have been the 37th in

descent from Saul, king of Israel, Owing to intercourse with the Jews settled in
Arabia, so the story goes, Qais was induced to visit the Prophet Muhammad, who
won the Jewish Chief to Islam, and bestowed on him to the name of Abdur Rashid,
and the title of Pathan. This last is a mysterious word which cannot be traced to an
origin in any known language, but it is believed to means either or both, the rudder,
or the mast of a ship. So say those who have committed the genealogy of the Afghans
to paper. The conversion of Qais is not mentioned in the history of Islam. The socalled genealogy of the Afghans was complied at a time when all the races of
Mankind were believed to have been the offspring of the first man and woman
created by the Almighty and the eponymous ancestor of every tribe appears at some
stage in the genealogy, which there seems every reason to believe was concocted in
the 15th century A.D., probably when the Afghans began to attain to power in India.
The main feature in it is the alleged Jewish ancestry of all the tribes, and this belief
must have been very strong for the retention of the legend, when the tables of descent
were complied. All that can be said at present is that the legend has preserved the
memory of a fact which has dropped out of history. It is not improbable that there
may have been a Hebrew community in Ghor." (Tate:1973:10)

We have seen in the above mentioned references that the theory of Bani Israel about the origin of
the Pashtoons is not reliable and nor it is based on authentic evidences. But this theory remained
under discussion for a long time among the scholars of Pashtoon history. However at the mid
decades of 20th century (AD) a new theory has been presented by some scholars of Afghanistan,
Pakistan as well as some orientalists. This Theory was that Pashtoons are from Arian races or
Pashtoons are Arians in origin.

Are Pashtoons Arians?

As mentioned earlier with quoting a few references that the theory of Bani Israelies has been
criticized by some eminent scholars and historians. Thus this theory has been rejected by
presentation of the theory of Arians put forward by some orientalists and some Afghan writers
and historians. In orientalists Morgan Strine and Dr. Trump were in favour of this theory. In
Afghan writers Professor Abdul Hai Habibi and Bahadur Shah Zaffar in Pakistani historians
accepted and explained the theory of Arians in detail.
According to this theory the Pashtoons is the branch of the Arian tribes which are known in
history as Indo Arian tribes. Actually the Indic branch is divided in two major parts named Indo
European and Indo Arian and then the Indo Arian branch is divided in two sub branches named

Indo Iranian and Indo Arian. Pashtoons are belonged to the branch of Indo Iranian. This theory is
based on the words "Pashtoon" (name of nation or tribe) and Pashto (name of the language of
that tribe or nation). The scholars and historians of Indus civilization have found these words in
Vedic literature especially in Rig-Veda, the Holy Book of Arian tribes and Hindus. According to
Bahadar Shah Zafar
"In Rig-Veda the word phakt or phakta were used for the geographical
surrounding of the Pashtoons. "Phaktheen" was used for Pashtoon. Initially
Phakthean was converted into Pashteen and than into Pashtoon. It is also mentioned
in Rig-Veda that Pashtoons used to stay in Bactria (Bakhtar) the old name of
Pashtoon area and the present Afghanistan for so many years. In Bactria the
Pashtoons are known as the inhabitants of Bakhd. After that the city of Balkh in the
present Afghanistan became famous because of these Pashtoons as stated by some
Greek historians they were known as pakteen and pashteen, and these words
resembled with word Pashtoon and Pashtoonkhwa. So for the first time Mr. Lasan
accept the resemblance between the words paktnees and Pashtoon. Keeping in view
all these facts it became believable that the Pashtoon nation was a branch of the Arian
tribes and their languages was one of the languages of Arian
stock"(Kakakhail:1981:33)

We have seen in the above mentioned references that the scholars of modern era emphasized that
the theory of Bani Israelis loses it authenticity and the theory of Arians can be considered
comparatively authentic with solid evidences. Although some contemporary scholars are inclined
to declare that Pashtoons are related to Greeks. In these scholars a Pashtoon intellectual Ghani
Khan argues in his book the Pathan A Sketch that

"The oldest relics, you see are of distinctly pre-Greek period. They are the
same in conception and style as those of the united provinces or Orissa, e.g. the
features of dolls and gods two things the humanity has of mixing up are most unlike
those of Pathans of today. But when we came to Buddhist and the features of the
dolls Budhas and Kings and saints take the likeness of those of the Pathans of today.
The great ferocity of the Pathan will be a reaction to a rather long dose of Buddhist
non-violence" (Khan: 1990:4)

But in the presence of Arians theory and the availability of supporting evidences the theory of
Greeks also could not been accepted. As a whole a majority of scholars, researchers and linguists
are stressing to prove that Pashtoons are from Arian tribes.

CONCLUSION

Although it has been explained in detail the historical references and the validity of evidences
proved that Pashtoons can be considered from Arian races. However it is also mandatory and
should make it clear that the Pashtoon tribes have their own peculiar charm and specific values.
On the base of these peculiarities we can consider the Pashtoons as an individual tribe or nation
in Arian tribes or a specific tribe of South Asian nations.

REFERENCES

Caroe, Olaf, The Pathans, Oxford University Press Karachi, 1958.

Kakakhel, Syyed Bahadur Shah Zafar, Pashtoon Taareekh Kay Aienay Main (Pashtoons in
the light of history), Abdur Rasheed Press Gujrat, 1981.

Abdur-Raheem, Afghans in India, Oxford University Press Karachi, 1969.

Percy Cycks, Sir, History of Afghanistan, Oxford London, 1973.

Spain, James W., The way of the Pathans, Oxford University Press Karachi, 1972.

Tate, G.P. The Kingdom of Afghanistan a Historical Sketch, Indus publications Karachi,
1973.

Khan, Ghani, The Pathans - A Sketch, Pashto Adabi Society Islamabad, 1990.